The Illinois Motor Vehicle Data Linkage (MVDL) Project
Funded by a grant from the Illinois Department of Public Health in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Transportation, the overall goal of this project is to link state health and transportation data to support local, regional, and statewide highway safety decision-making to affect decreases in deaths, non-fatal injuries, and health care costs resulting from motor vehicle crashes, which will help make Illinois roads safer. The primary function of the data analyst will be to collect, clean, merge together, and update the primary database that forms the basis of this project. The data analyst will work with the other members of the UIS research team, IDPH, and IDOT to identify key research questions of interest to policymakers that the data can help to answer.
Research Studies
Spatial Demography of Head Injury Incidence and Crashed Motor Vehicle Type in Illinois
This study conducts an exploratory, high-level examination of seven years of linked motor vehicle crash and hospital data (2016-2022) in Illinois to investigate general crash outcomes and the risk of head injuries across different vehicle types. The analysis includes 420,169 linked crashes involving passenger cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, and vans/minivans. Key findings indicate that occupants of pickup trucks are twice as likely to be killed in a crash compared to passenger car occupants and sustain moderate to severe head injuries at the highest rate (3.7%) among all vehicle types. Contrary to common assumptions, this study finds no evidence that teenagers are safer in larger vehicles; teen drivers in pickup trucks had the greatest likelihood of sustaining a head injury. Geographically, while pickup truck crashes are more common in rural areas, the individuals most at risk of head injury reside in specific impoverished urban neighborhoods of Chicago and Springfield. This research suggests that factors like being male and White, residing in a low-resource zip code, and vehicle construction methods (rigid body-on-frame) correlate with worse injury outcomes in pickup trucks, highlighting a complex interplay of physics, demographics, and socioeconomic factors.
Cannabis Legalization, Crash Incidence, and Injury Severity in Illinois: Evidence from Seven Years of Linked Crash and Hospital Data
This study conducts a retrospective analysis using seven years (2016–2022) of linked motor vehicle crash and hospital discharge data in Illinois to examine the effects of recreational cannabis legalization on crash incidence and injury severity. Utilizing an interrupted time series analysis and a binary logistic regression model, we find a statistically significant, yet weak, effect: the post-legalization period (beginning in 2020) was associated with an increased rate of cannabis-positive crashes when normalized per billion vehicle miles traveled at the county level. The analysis reveals a persistent disparity in outcomes, with cannabis-positive patients consistently exhibiting higher mean hospital charges and greater injury severity scores compared to cannabis-negative patients. The study also highlights the confounding influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on risky driving behaviors and notes a disproportionate effect of cannabis-positive crashes on impoverished and racial minority communities. The findings underscore the complex interplay of policy changes, socioeconomic factors, and external events on road safety outcomes.
View the Motor Vehicle Data Linkage Project Archive for more info on additional research.